Are Muslims Intrinsically Cruel, Slimy, Backstabbing and Aggressive?

  

As the stereotypes and distasteful beliefs towards the Muslim community are getting more and more traction in the current geo-political scenario across the world, it is essential to re-examine and debunk some of these beliefs in the light of facts and figures. To begin with, it is usually alleged that, in their quest for power, Muslims do not differentiate between friend and foe, and even fight internecine wars with their blood relatives.

While there have been several harrowing examples from Muslim history, family feuds, historically, have been no Muslim monopoly. There are actually documented royal family feuds in the Gupta dynasty, such as between Chandragupta II and Ramgupta, and between Samudragupta and Kacha, and there are such historical records for the Nanda and Maurya dynasties too (such as Ashok killing his brothers), as also Bimbisar having been killed by son Ajatashatru (even if some of these claims are questionable, being mentioned in Sanskrit, Pali or Prakrit texts from later periods, they show that these things weren't unheard of in Hindu dynasties. We also have much more authentic records among Rajputs, such as of Rana Kumbha of Mewar being killed by his son Uday Singh in 1468, and the princes Bakht Singh and Abhay Singh having murdered their father Ajit Singh of Marwar in 1724. In the Vijaynagar Empire too, Virupaksha Raya, who was killed by his own sons after reign of just a few months and Bukka Raya II was overthrown by his brother Deva Raya I. Hindu religious lore also refers to treacherous human beings like Kans imprisoning his father Ugrasen and sister Devki. Moreover, some of the worst atrocities in history have been committed by the likes of Hitler and Stalin, who were not Muslims, nor was Genghis khan who was an animist.

 

There are several examples of Hindus even in recent times having killed their near and dear ones, as you can see here, here, here, here and here.

Those portraying Muslims in general as cruel, slimy, backstabbing and aggressive (many Muslims whom the non-Muslim readers would know personally would not exhibit such traits if the non-Muslim readers were to analyze dispassionately, rather than making baseless presumptions, which is not to say that there can't be or aren't Muslims of the negative variety, as there are in all communities) would do well to note that Muslim strangers even helped my relatives during the partition riots (and there were Hindus helping Muslim strangers in that hour of crisis too, as on several other occasions), and there have been Muslims protecting others during terrorist attacks too, other than the help and support people across religious lines give each other all the time.

Verse 5:32 of the Qur’an says that saving the life of even one innocent human being amounts to saving the entire humanity. Some other examples of Muslims rescuing/helping people of other faiths can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Non-vegetarianism has a history in India predating the advent of Islam - read the Vedas, Ramayan and Mahabharata to check. A butcher Raikva has been reverentially mentioned in the Upanishads), and animal sacrifices have been a part of Hindu religious rituals since before Gautam Buddha. Sacrificing animals as a religious ritual is not exclusive to Muslims, and ‘Bali’ has existed among Hindus too, something Gautam Buddha (who lived centuries before Jesus and Muhammad) had opposed. Even emperor Ashok the great consumed meat of peacocks, which he stopped after embracing Buddhism, though interestingly, Buddhists in China, Japan, Bhutan, Vietnam etc. do consume meat, as do most Sikhs, Christians, Jews and Parsis. What is halal for Muslims in terms of dietary regulations and the mode of slaughtering some animals is almost identical to what is kosher for Jews and several sects of Christians, and that is true for the practice of circumcision for males as well, which even has health benefits, and still continues in many Hindu temples across India, especially in West Bengal during the Navratri season. Also, it is interesting to note that the story of prophet Abraham associated with Id-Ul-Zuha is found in the Old Testament of the Bible too, which the Jews and Christians also believe in (those regarded as prophets by the Jews are regarded as prophets by the Christians too, with the addition of Jesus, and those regarded as prophets by the Christians are regarded as prophets by the Muslims as well, with the addition of Muhammad).

Obviously, not all of Arab cuisine is non-vegetarian either, with Arab vegetarian dishes like strained yogurt using Labneh cheese and sweet dishes like Zlabia, popular in South Asia as jalebi!

While the Quran, like the Old Testament of the Bible, has both tolerant and intolerant verses vis-a-vis those of other faiths, apostates of Islam ("ex-Muslims") like Salman Rushdie and Tasleema Nasreen and even other critics of the Islamic scriptures have also contended that their critique of the Islamic scriptures (there are similar critiques of scriptures of other faiths, including by their apostates), holding controversial interpretations as accurate, does not validate stereotyping in a negative fashion the people we know as Muslims or even practising Muslims. Terrorism is not a Muslim monopoly, as discussed in this other and I have also discussed the ideological roadmap to fight Muslim extremism here. If one says reform is impossible in Muslim societies, they must note that Muslim women in our own subcontinent have moved from being largely veiled in the 19^th century to now Katrina Kaifs, Sheikh Hasinas and Hina Rabbani Khars. On how reform is possible, there's a must-watch movie 'Road To Sangam', based on a true story, and there's also the case of Kasim Hafeez, who initially wanted to become a terrorist seeking to blow up Jewish civilians but changed his standpoint about Israel for the better after visiting that country, while still remaining a practising Muslim and now facing death-threats from Muslim extremists.

Morocco banned the veil, Tunisia and the UAE have come to recognise marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, Sudan banned FGM, unilateral and arbitrary Triple Talaq was abolished in most Muslim-majority countries (including Pakistan) before India – so it shows that Muslim societies can reform. There are already full-fledged Muslim-majority secular democracies like Albania and Senegal, which can be held up as role models.

 

Also, many non-Muslims wrongly imagine self-flagellation on the Ashura day in Muharram to be an integral part of Islam, though it's only done by Shias (who have produced hardly any terrorists attacking non-Muslims except Israeli Jews, which is not to say that any terrorism against anyone is acceptable, and most Sunnis aren't terrorists either). There are completely bloodless Tazia processions among Shia Muslims too, in which Hindus like Hussaini Brahmins have also participated in some regions for centuries. Moreover, here is a Hindu festival in Tamil Nadu dedicated to goddess Meenakshi in which some subject themselves to physical torture and there have been instances of people trying to come under the Rath in the Jagannath Rath Yatra too, and there are Christians also engaging in self-flagellation to endure Christ's suffering, calling it "mortification of the flesh" as is depicted in the popular Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code.